Maoists call off Nepal blockade

Last Updated: Saturday, 26 February, 2005, 16:03 GMT

The Maoist blockade brought the country to a standstill
Maoist rebels in Nepal have called off a nationwide transport blockade they ordered to protest at King Gyanendra's seizure of power earlier this month.

The Maoist leader, Prachanda, said the decision was taken to show "our greater responsibility towards the public".

But he threatened to call an indefinite strike next month unless the king reversed the state of emergency.

The two-week-long stoppage caused misery throughout Nepal, says the BBC's Charles Haviland in Kathmandu.

An Indian driver was shot dead while under military escort. There were food and medical shortages and people would walk for days to get to their villages, or give up in despair.

Nepalis were also caught between Maoist violence and army coercion, our correspondent says.

There have been reports of soldiers threatening to impound vehicles if their drivers did not continue to use the roads - and an unconfirmed account of the Maoists cutting off the arm of one driver, he says.

King Gyanendra says he sacked his government because it had failed to tackle the Maoists.

Nearly 11,000 people have died in Nepal's 10-year Maoist insurgency.

'We will be watching'

"If there are no changes, our party will be obliged to observe an indefinite nationwide general strike from next month [starting March 14]," Prachanda said in a statement distributed to the media.


We are going to start a new phase of movement increasing military resistance and mass movement of people
Prachanda statement

"We will be watching political developments in the country," he said.

He said the blockade was being ended to make way for new ways of combating "the feudal authoritarian gang" running the country.

Terming the authorities "royal butchers", Prachanda said they would be fought through military resistance.

"We are going to start a new phase of movement increasing military resistance and mass movement of people," he said, giving no details.

Prachanda's appeal for a people's movement suggests he may be wooing the country's political parties, many of whose leaders and members have been arrested since the royal coup, our correspondent says.

So far they have rejected such an alliance for as long as the Maoists use violence, he says.

In a new meeting, representatives of five of the parties have called for a nationwide pro-democracy rally on 8 March. Sphere: Related Content